It is known in the prior art to combine an air-driven power supply, such as a fluidic generator, with a projectile fuze. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,568,704; 3,772,541; 3,798,475; and, 3,971,321. When such a device is positioned in a projectile or missile to power the fuze electronics, ram air enters through an air inlet means and passes through a nozzle. Such air then proceeds to a resonating cavity. The acoustical vibration within the cavity causes a diaphragm to vibrate, such vibration driving a reed in a permanent magnetic field. It is evident that as the air velocity increases, the diaphragm displacement also increases until a condition is reached where the reeds bang against the pole pieces of the magnetic device. This banging causes noise in the electrical output and, more importantly, fatigues the reeds, which will eventually break causing a power loss in the electrical system.
Air driven generators, when used aboard a projectile or a missile, can experience velocities of 3,000 ft/sec or higher. These high flight velocities cause a large mass flow to enter the inlet of the power supply or generator. The large mass flows cause design fatigue, as noted above, lessen the structural integrity of the device, and increase development costs.
Prior attempts to regulate the flow of air into the fuze comprised mainly movable valves which responded to such variables as acceleration, air pressure, etc. Such devices met with limited success as they were highly sensitive, requiring delicate calibrations. Also, the high magnitude of mechanical forces experienced by the devices, as well as aerodynamic heating, resulted in many failures and a low degree of dependability.
It is an object of this invention to provide a simple device which will deflect some of the inlet flows to a fuze during high velocity flight. It is also an object to provide such a device which will not substantially affect the inflow of air to the fuze during the low velocity portion of its flight.
It is additionally an object of this invention to provide such a deflector which is simple, inexpensive, and has no moving parts requiring calibration.
It is additionally an object of the invention to provide such a device which has infinite shelf life, not experiencing any degree of deterioration in storage.